1) I read somewhere earlier that the Leafs are going to be the 2002 Stanley Cup winners. They sure don't look like it now. In their last three games they lost to Carolina (Aside #1: OK, Carolina's good this year. Kapanen is OFF THE HOOK), Florida (Aside #2: Uh...Luongo is really good, so I guess that's OK? Maybe? Not really?), and the ATLANTA THRASHERS. Come ON. If Toronto drops games to ATLANTA, how can anyone say that they will soundly win the Stanley Cup?Besides, the Leafs are like the Oilers in playoffs in the last few years. They end up facing New Jersey and losing like the Oilers end up facing Dallas and losing

2) I was hoping for Canada to win the gold at WJC. I think they will DESTROY Russia. It's even sweeter when last year's WJC champs the Czech Republic are playing for 7th place. Unfortunately, France will not be playing in the A pool of teams for 2003-they lost to Belarus in a shootout final that had 26 shootouts.

3) The Canes will definately make the playoffs, barring any major incident. But for New Jersey's sake, I'm hoping they don't play the Devs in the first round again. Congrats to Ron "SO Overlooked" Francis picking up his 500th goal.

The Canes will definately make the playoffs, barring any major incident. But for New Jersey's sake, I'm hoping they don't play the Devs in the first round again.

That was by and large (in my completely biased opinion) the most nerve racking and exciting series in the playoffs last year. For a couple of days, the Canes showed maybe, JUST maybe, the little guys COULD do it.

Considering their playoff disappointment history (losing to the Habs in 7, and the biggest of all, losing Steve Chiasson to drunk driving) it was one of the moments that fans of the team aren't gonna forget.

Probably saved the club, since they sold a boatload of season tickets following that.

I must be the only person to like the Wings. And what's this about buying a Stanley Cup (Yes, I know they have the highest salary)? One, they haven't won it (yet). Two, most of the major players (Hasek and Hull) that came to the Wings in the off-season, WANTED to come to the Wings. And with the salary, dictated mostly by the exprience level (read: age) of the players, comes the fact that they will be suffering during the playoffs due to the shortened breaks between games.

Sorry, Loosie, I know you like the Leafs, but the Wings are YOUR 2001-2002 STANLEY CUP CHAMPIONS~!

And regarding good regular seasons, and not doing well in the playoffs: who won the cup last season? Oh yeah, the Avalanche. They had the best regular season record, didn't they? Oops.

Two, most of the major players (Hasek and Hull) that came to the Wings in the off-season, WANTED to come to the Wings.

That's like using the argument that the Yankees AREN'T buying the World Series because players who go there want to be Yankees...

Of course, I imagine it always helps when you're making $10 million a year and are surrounded by the American League All Star Team EVERY SINGLE DAY.

The Wings haven't played the way they wanted to in the playoffs the past few years, so they did what all teams with too much money do. Rather than bring talent along, they went out and picked up the best available free agents.

I'd much rather root for a team that nurtures young players into becoming stars than demand payoffs TODAY!

Of course, this is all coming from a WCW fan, so in the end I come off looking like a hypocrite. :-)

I don't think the Yankees analogy applies. For it to apply, the Red Wings would have to be unstoppable for a while now since they make the moves to keep their team stacked of future Hall of Famers (which is easy since many of them go to Detroit since the Reds have a SHOT at the Cup every year). And San Jose, NJ, and LA fans would know, the Red Wings aren't always so good in the playoffs

Okay, maybe they're NOT trying to buy the Cup. After all, guys like Hasek, Robitaille and Chelios all signed w/ the Wings because they wanted to win the cup and because the Wings were the only team willing to shell out the cash. No big deal. BUT, the Wings could have done this ANY OTHER YEAR.

The AV's have made a big trade before the playoffs, after they got eliminated in the first round of the '98 playoffs by Vancouver, the last three seasons. In '99, they traded for Theo Fluery and LOST in Game 7 of the Campbell Conference Finals (YES, CAMPBELL!). IN 2000, they traded for Ray Bourque and LOST in Game 7 again. In 2001, they traded for Rob Blake and WON the Cup. So, the AV's aren't all innocent.

Now, to my point about the Wings. Rumors were virtually being CONFIRMED that Scotty Bowman was set to retire after last season. Especially, if the Wings didn't do well in the playoffs. BAM, here comes Los Angeles to humiliate these guys. SO, Scotty is gone right? (After all, heaven forbid that Bowman actually try to build a franchise instead of pumping up his winning percentage as a coach by mooching off of Hall of Famers)

WRONG!

Bowman must have been a reason for this spending spree by the Wings. The Wings have been selling out the Joe Louis Arena for YEARS, so the money has always been there. They needed that extra push to spend the cash, and in my opinion, Bowman is partly responsible for the Wings off season shopping.